


A Search for Wings

by rosesofenvy



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angels and Demons AU, M/M, Multi, Oh, Stupid Title is Stupid, and this is an angel/demon au i kind of made up on the fly, angel Hinata, angels and demons have the ability to twist memories, angels can "fall", daisuga is just about the only thing I'm getting, demon Kageyama, every fandom needs one, first story for fandom, i don't really know how to explain that in just tags, i took out the pairings bc i wasn't really incorporating them, maybe a little kuroo and kenma, not every character is an angel or a demon (although most are) so some are human, some names are shortened some aren't, to start out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 06:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2497412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesofenvy/pseuds/rosesofenvy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hina is an angel sent to kill Kage, and Kage is a demon sent to kill Hina. However, the angel has doubts about what he should do, especially as the situation grows stranger, with extremely perceptive humans and oddly timed missions, there must be something more in the works. As their memory twisting unravels, both sides begin to realize more than they should.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Assignments

* * *

 

 

 

"Hina, new assignment."

The orange haired 'teen' scrambles from his perch high in the library, dropping the book to the ground a he flutters down from the tall-as-skyscraper shelves.

"Finally! I was getting bored!"

The fellow angel glances around, noticing displacements of books, and sighs with a small smile, knowing Hina had probably read through hundreds of books, "Well, this assignment isn't as fun as you would hope it to be. You're to take human form, Hinata Shoyou, and find a demon named Kage. He will be hidden in a human form as well, but it is vital that you eliminate him. Usual drill, you get one weapon, no showing your form to humans, and remember to blend in. Orders from the higher ups."

"So I have to kill him?" Hina questions, tilting his head slightly with a small frown, "What's he done?"

The other angel shrugs, "Beats me, I'm just the messenger. Anyway, as for the smaller details, you'll have an apartment near the school, here's the keys." Hina easily catches the key chain, eying the set with curiosity.

"What are the others for?" 

"One for the club room at school, another is for your locker at the school, and the third will have its uses soon enough," The angel lists, looking off of a piece of paper.

Hina eyes the small key curiously, but doesn't question it. He might be a younger angel, but he knows enough not to question the things given to him.

"Listen Hina," The serious tone in the messengers voice draws Hina's gaze away from the key, eyebrows creasing in something akin to concern. "Kage is a high level demon, we don't have much information for him at all. Informants have tips that he's hunting for an angel as well. We're sending down Noya and Tana once they get back from their own separate missions."

Hina swallows hard, nodding uncertainly, "O-okay, got it." This would only be the seventh demon mission he'd been on, the third he'd ever gone on alone. He'd been on other missions before (more like errands) but he was still considered a new recruit in the demon missions. He has an odd feeling that there's a reason _he's_ the one being sent on the mission, and he doesn't really want to know why.

"And...keep a lookout for any fallen, I've heard that a few have been discovered."

Hina pauses before nodding again. That was essentially code for 'turn the other way like you never saw them'.

And plus...Hina draws away from those thoughts, the loss of his friend still fresh.

The messenger leaves, his work done. He gives a word of good luck before heading back for more messages to carry.

Meanwhile, Hina already knew where he needed to go, and what he had to do. He leaves the library, whispering a goodbye to the books as he closes the door behind him. He heads to his room, tucking his wings close to his body to maneuver easily past others. He'd always loved the dorm-like building used to house angels who reported on missions too often to live where messengers couldn't easily get to them. Plus he had two awesome roommates. Well...there used to be a third.

Hina slaps his face lightly to keep his attention on track before entering his room. Noya and Tana were out on a mission, since they were some of the top fighters in the eighth generation. They took the more dangerous ones, which even though Hina was envious about, he was glad they could take care of them without much problem. 

He grabs the gold cylinder sitting by his bed, which easily fits in his hand, and puts it in his pocket. Next is the 'medicine' required to tone down his energy, he wouldn't want to accidentally vaporize any humans.  Popping one of the small capsules in his mouth, he pockets the small bottle.

Having gathered all he believed he would need, he wills the floor beneath his feet to not be, allowing him to fall straight through their little spot in the heavens to the doorways through the Universe. Most are blocked off, not allowing anyone to enter or leave, but Earth was always open. He takes a running jump through the portal, relishing in his power for a few more moments before making the drop to earth.

The process of containing his energy inside of a non-vaporizing human form took place on the drop. The medication set in fast, weighing him down and making his wings fade dangerously until he found himself inside of an apartment. The transition between free-falling and a complete stop makes him take a double take.

For a few disorientating seconds, he has to stand there and wait for everything to fade to the back of his mind before he can really move again. He sighs, knowing he was now Hinata Shouyou, a (devastatingly short) orange haired teen.

The worst part of the missions was losing his height. All angels were unnaturally tall, you could almost say ungodly, and when 'condensing the energy' they lost their height, some more than others. For most it depended on their power level, although some of the older generations can control their appearance. Hina can still only change his hair, which he still thinks is fun, but not as fun as being tall.  
  
He sighs and decides to explore the small apartment to get his mind off his height. As he walks around, taking note of the uniforms in the closed and the volleyball gear in his room, the information for the mission slowly takes form in his mind.  
  
He's a first year at the highschool, and he'd already been there for three and a half months. He was a spiker in the volleyball club-which was surprisingly small for the highschool. Two first years, himself and Yamaguchi. Then there's three second years whose names escape him-he assumes he doesn't talk to them much, and one third...wait, no two third years. Daichi and Sugawara.  
  
Hm... something seems odd about that second name, almost familiar. But the first name gives him a slight chill, he feels as though he's heard it before.  
  
Brushing past those thoughts, he memorizes his class schedule and practice times, everything was simple as it usually would be. He draws out his weapon, boredly sitting on his bed. The cylinder glows a pale silver before morphing into the eight inch dagger he's accustomed to fighting with. He preferred weapons like daggers, unlike Nishinoya and Tanaka who preferred swords and staffs that could be used diversely.  
  
Hina hopes the two are doing well on their missions, they'd both been gone nearly a month.  
  
 _It's late_ , Hina thinks as he stretches his arms a bit more before moving to change into sleeping clothes that he knows he can find in the dresser. The most disturbing part of accepting the information given to him was the fact that going about these motions to get ready to sleep seemed so normal, like he'd done them all his life. It always caught him off guard.  
  
He takes another dose of the medication, in case he tried to fly in his sleep or something (it hadn't been the first time) before forcing himself to sleep early.

* * *

  
Hina rides his bike to and from school, a fact he comes up with as he walks outside of the apartment building and sees the bike rack. He slings his backpack over his shoulder, it has seemingly magically filled with all the materials he needs for the school day.  
  
As Hina had expected, his presence was completely normal at the school. His name had appeared on rosters, students had false memories of him being a hyper-active person obsessed with volleyball, everything was as it should be.  
  
Until he got to volleyball practice.  
  
"Sorry I'm late!" He calls out as he walks into the gym, pulling his shoe more firmly onto his foot and hopping partially into the gym.  
  
"Hey Hinata!" Yamaguchi greets, catching the ball he had softly tossed into the air.  
  
The second years chime their greetings from across the gym, having been tossing a volleyball between them.  
  
However, Hina's eyes narrow as he spots the two third years near the net, obviously having been discussing something when he walked in. The captain, Daichi, has started watching him carefully, eyebrows creased in what he guessed would be confusion. Sugawara had turned around quickly, avoiding eye contact with Hina as the teen walks over to the net.  
  
"Stretch Hinata, we're working on spiking again today," Daichi says to him, before returning to his conversation with Sugawara. Hina takes the hint to leave them alone.  
  
"Alright!" Hina obeys the captain, walking over near to the wall to stretch out a bit before he jogged around the gym.  
  
Yamaguchi walks over, spinning a volleyball in his hands, "The two have been talking since I got here, do you think something's up?"  
  
Hinata glances up at Yamaguchi -since he's sitting on the ground- and pauses in stretching his legs. He watches the two third years for a few seconds before shrugging, "Who knows, third years are weird."  
  
"I guess that's true, I have a feeling something's up though," Yamaguchi says quietly, with an almost pouting expression on his face.  
  
Hinata stands, shaking out his limbs before smiling care-freely, "We'll find out if it's anything important." He starts a few quick laps around the gym before meeting up with Yamaguchi again near the wall.  
  
After a few minutes of them loitering around, their upperclassman's conversation ended and Daichi calls them to line up for spikes, which Sugawara sets for them.  
  
Hina allows his mind to wander as he runs through the instinctual movements. He actually quite enjoyed volleyball while in his human form, physical activity is only way he can use the limits of his strength in the form. He thinks on his orders, to kill the demon Kage. The demon must've done something to garner the higher-ups attention, something bad.  
  
Although, if it was bad, then why hasn't he heard of the instance?  
  
A small sigh leaves him as he tries to find an answer to the question. He'd been issued the mission, he has no authority to question it after all.  
  
The practice flies by, and Hina is shocked when it's announced over, he'd gotten so lost in his thoughts. He starts to feel how exerted his body is, unused to it's more cumbersome form. He tries not to pay attention to it as he changes back into his regular clothes and grabs his bike.  
  
"Good job today Hinata, we'll probably be able to do quicks soon!" Sugawara says to him as Hinata leaves.  
  
Hinata grins and nods, "Awesome, I can't wait!"  
  
He doesn't bother staying any later, hopping onto his bike and going dangerously fast down the hills. He revels in the speed though, imagining it as flying as the wind rips at his clothing and hair.  
  
Another thing he's sad about taking human form, unless if he's heading back up, or down, he can't take his normal form. Which means no flying.  
  
He frowns as he walks into his apartment, feeling like he's forgetting something as he sets his bag down and heads to get a shower.  
  
Those thoughts are pushed to the back of his mind until he's done his nightly routine, nearly forgotten when he falls asleep.


	2. Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just sayin, this AU takes place at an unspecified place at an unspecified time, although their grade levels are the same (naturally) .  
> Also, the characters randomly being added in are not coincidences. At all. Memory altercations.  
> Nekoma will be added, still unsure about other schools.  
> (God I listened to like ten different versions of Unravel while typing this chapter)

"It's been two weeks! Why haven't I been able to find that idiot Kage!" Hina rages, kicking around on his bed in frustration. He was never horribly patient, and with it being a weekend he had been lying in bed thinking over the mission plans while getting increasingly antsy.  
  
"Maybe I should ask Kageyama if he happens to know any demons," Hina grumbles as he leaps out of bed, putting on an outfit fit for running and his tennis shoes. A hand is used instead of a brush for his hair before he heads out of the apartment. There wasn't really another way to get out his energy besides physical activity at this point.  
  
That feeling of forgetting something hits him as he passes Kageyama's apartment building, and he nearly stumbles before slowing down a bit so he could think. His feet pound a steady rhythm into the asphalt as he weaves through streets. He'd gotten no more information, no word from anyone, and he was starting to get frustrated with how much he was apparently forgetting. He wasn't used to that feeling.  
  
Angels and demons naturally had the ability to manipulate memories, making it so they could blend in with the human population if they needed too, but Hina knows that also means that angels and demons alike can be subjected to it. Tana told him that it feels like you're forgetting something, but you can't quite pinpoint what it would be.  
  
If that was true, then someone Hina had encountered as Hinata was one or the other.   
  
 _This is so freaking frustrating!_ Hina shouts internally, forcing himself to sprint more than halfway back to the apartment. He ends up gasping for air as he rests in the hallway outside of his apartment after racing up a few flights of stairs, but feels better, like he had cleared his head.  
  
When he walks into his room, he nearly shrieks as he realizes he's not alone.  
  
"Tana, what!? When did you get here?!"  
  
"Nice place Hina! They really went all out didn't they!" The elder angel greets, grinning a sharp toothed smile as he gets up from Hina's bed. Noya walks out from the kitchen, bag of chips in hand.  
  
"Kinda need to get food though,"  He says around a mouthful of chips.  
  
"Noya! When did you guys get here!?" Hina asks, glancing between the two.  
  
"Finished the mission a few days ago," Noya says proudly, smirking.  
  
"We had to wait a bit, a few days or something, before we were sent down to help you," Tana continues for his fellow angel.  
  
Hina pauses, realizing that Tana and Noya -no, Tanaka and Nishinoya- were already added into his memories.  
  
"Whoa, we're totally volleyball buddies now!" Hina can't help the grin that spreads across his features as he hops up on his tiptoes. Tana is taller than him, and yet Noya is shorter, much shorter, than both of them. He knows both of the elder angels are stronger than him (a fact he's ok with admitting)which means they're able to control their appearances a bit more.  
  
"Yeah!" Noya yells happily, pumping a fist in the air.  
  
After they mindlessly celebrate for probably too long, they calm down. Noya perches on top of Hina's yet-to-be-used desk, while Tana sits in the chair that goes to the desk. Hina partially lays on his bed, having stolen the chips from Noya while he was cooking actual food.  
  
"So, find anyone yet?" Tana begins, his voice becoming serious. The air seems to get heavier with the weight of their seriousness.  
  
Hina shakes his head, pouting slightly, "I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something, but I can't figure out why."  
  
"You mean who."  
  
Hinata pauses before nodding, "Yeah, Who."  
  
"You know, I've felt that way too," Tana muses, "Ever since I got here and started thinking about school."  
  
Noya frowns, "Hina's memory twisting doesn't effect us, so there has to be something else."  
  
Hina tries to think, closing his eyes and tracing back his thoughts.  
  
"Augh, everyone is so human," He sighs in frustration after a few anxious moments of thinking, throwing himself backwards onto the bed, barely managing not to spill the chips.  
  
"I don't get it," Noya grumbles, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hand, keeping his elbow propped on the surface of the desk in front of him.  
  
They all fall silent again, Hina running to the kitchen to make sure he's not burning anything before returning to thinking through who could possibly be the angel or demon.  
  
"You know," Noya's voice draws their attention as the short angel sits up straight, a concentrated look on his face, "There might not be just one of them."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You think so?"  
  
Noya shrugs, "It's always the possibility. There's something strange in this town, I'm sure it would attract any demon or angel alike."  
  
"Noya you're so smart!" Tana grins, giving an exaggerated thumbs up.  
  
"Hell yeah!" Noya says proudly, sitting up more to put his hands on his hips.  
  
Hina smiles at his friends antics, leaning up on his hands to look at them. He blinks, "Oh, where are you guys staying? There's technically not enough room here."  
  
The two of them just shrug, a response Hina had expected and laughs at, "Well I'd figure it out soon, there is school in the morning."  
  
"The horror," Tana groans, sliding down the chair and onto the floor, lying there limply.  
  
"It's not all bad," Hina insists, "Volleyball practice is awesome!"  
  
"Haha! Well we'll see you tomorrow Hina! We'd better find our place!" Noya replies, dragging Tana off the ground and giving Hina a large grin and a light punch on the arm as a goodbye.  
  
Hina watches the door close behind his friends, able to hear their loud voices even through the walls as they walk away. He stands there for a few more moments, knowing that if they were both here, then this was pretty serious.  
  
Although it could also be because it'd been two weeks and Hina hadn't even figured out who Kage was.  
  
Slapping his face lightly to force his thoughts back into place, he returns to the kitchen, stirring the noodles absentmindedly.

* * *

  
The day isn't worth mentioning, like usual, but the volleyball practice was...interesting to say the least.  
  
They were supposed to scrimmage during practice, but Daichi reports that their plans are changed since Sugawara hadn't been at school. Hina found that odd right off the bat, but doesn't let his curiosity show as he continues to listen to Daichi.  
  
But...  
  
He had noticed that their captain seemed to pause fractionally when addressing Tana and Noya, almost like he was uncertain if they were supposed to be there or not. Hina's eyes narrow at that, and decides to mention it to the two angels while doing the stretches.  
  
"Oi stop zoning out idiot," a voice says by his ear before he feels the side of his head get slapped.  
  
"Stop hitting me, idiot Kageyama," He retorts, rubbing a hand where the blow had landed, pouting a bit for good measure. He can see Kageyama roll his eyes before moving to join in with the stretches.  
  
Hina follows, seeing Tana's glance (since Noya was below his line of sight) as he takes a place across the circle from them.  
  
"Spikers we'll be working on mastering the new quick technique, Nishinoya you will work on receiving them, since the rest of us will be serving or blocking. Let's get to work!"  
  
"Alright!"  
  
The false memories were pale to the actual abilities of Tana and Noya,  the spiker was thoroughly enjoying himself as he managed to make it past blockers time and time again. And Noya could save all but two of the blocked spikes.  
  
"You guys were awesome today!" Hina says brightly to the two of them while they clean up the gym.  
  
"Of course! When are we not awesome!" Noya says, grinning as he sticks his chest out slightly as he puts his hands to his hips, nearly dropping the dust-mop he was holding.  
  
"Took the words out of my mouth Noya!" Tana agrees, swinging an arm around his shorter friends shoulders with a smirk firmly in place on his face.  
  
"Ahaha!"  
  
Daichi shouts at them from across the gym, "Less talking more cleaning, we don't want to have the janitors yelling at us again!"  
  
"Alright captain!"  
  
Hina snickers at his friends before he notices Kageyama looking at them with an annoyed look.  
  
 _Crap! I don't want to get lectured!_ Hina curses, ducking his head down and frantically returning to whichever job he'd been doing...  
  
"Oi Hinata! We're going to get curry buns after we're finished! You're coming with!" Tanaka says as Hinata replaces the dust-mop he'd been using.  
  
"Awesome!" Hinata agrees, understanding what they were saying. A simpler alternative to just showing up where ever the other was staying.  
  
They're the last few to leave, Kageyama gives Hinata an odd look as he gathers his bag to be- _probably thinking it strange that I'm not walking with him,_ Hina thinks as he hikes the strap to his bag a bit higher and guides his bike beside him as the three angels begin walking slowly in the vague directions of their apartments.  
  
"Got anything?" Hina asks the two of them once they're out of earshot of any and everyone.  
  
Noya nods, looking slightly uncertain, "Two things actually."  
  
"Two things?" Hina tilts his head in confusion.  
  
"One, there's more than one of them," Tana says, sounding just as reluctant.  
  
"Two, they're all on the team."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barely proofread but I'll probably find any mistakes soon enough (as I'm known to do)  
> Happy Halloween!


	3. Remembering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realize that this is supposed to be a mostly Hinata and Kageyama centered story so I've realized that I haven't really been incorporating that as much as I should. At the moment it's mostly DaiSuga, and if my original plans hold out, it'll be kinda AsaNoya for a bit after that before really getting into KageHina. Sorry about that, but backstory is always important. The backstory will be heavy hitting for a few chapters.  
> PLEASE READ THE AUTHORS NOTES FOR THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS. I upped the rating for a reason. There will be specific warnings and descriptions in the next few chapters because I don't want anyone to get hurt or anything.

 

* * *

"All on the team?" Hina echoes, eyebrows furrowed.   
  
"I first noticed it when Daichi was talking, he kept pausing before he was saying our names," Noya begins, "But there was something odd about that setter that wasn't there, Sugawara was his name?"  
  
"Yeah, I didn't get that either, but there was definitely something odd, and I couldn't pinpoint who it was from, but there was some strong memory twisting going on," Tana agrees grimly, arms crossed across his chest.   
  
"Sugawara did seem odd when I first showed up..." Hina slows down as he concentrates to remember, his face morphing into a confused expression.  
  
The two elder angles glance at each other before looking at the younger.   
  
"Maybe we'll figure it out tomorrow, I doubt he would miss two days of school," Tana offers, shrugging slightly.  
  
"Yeah he should be," Hina agrees, but can't shake the feeling he was really forgetting something. Something about Sugawara...  
  
"Either way, we'll try to get some information on Kage, we'll be back before school," Noya says once Hina reaches his apartment.   
  
"Sounds good!" Hina says with a large grin, giving them a wave as the walk away. After their out of sight, his smile fades into that concentrated look as he leans down to lock his bike to the bike rack secured to the side of the building. As he scales the stairs up to his apartment, he searches through his memories in an attempt to figure out what exactly was amiss.   
  
That feeling again, only when he was thinking about any of the volleyball members. He understands what Tana was saying, it was so powerful that he couldn't pinpoint it. And yet...  
  
Trying to remember things about Sugawara made his thoughts all hazy.   
  
In a poor attempt to clear them, he stops thinking about school and volleyball, and instead thinks about what he'll do when he heads back 'home'.   
  
Hina feels himself getting sad as he thinks about the empty spot in their dorm room.   
  
Unlocking the door, he flicks on the lights and toes off his shoes, padding silently across the carpeted floors to his room to toss his book-bag onto the bed. The kitchen calls to him as he hears his stomach growl. Preparing multiple snacks, he curls up on the couch with the remote in hand.   
  
Nothing on the screen catches his attention as he stares at the picture-some sort of American romance movie-instead causing him to retreat further into his thoughts.  
  
He couldn't remember anything about the angel that had been in their room. A "side-effect" of the fall. He had only known him for few generations or so, Noya and Tana had known him for longer, and he had been an experienced tenth generation angel. The last mission he'd been sent on before the one that he'd fallen on had lasted four years.   
  
Hina pauses, hand of popcorn halfway to his mouth, his head tilts slightly with realization. Come to think of it, what had his mission been?  
  
It'd been something about a high level demon...but the demons name had been...what was it?  
  
A frown marrs Hina's face, he couldn't remember anything about the angel, or the mission. Is that even normal? I'll have to ask Tana and Noya about it...

* * *

  
  
"Hinata!" Nishinoya calls in greeting, waving exuberantly as Hinata locks his bike into a rack.   
  
"Nishinoya!" Hinata replies with an equal amount of energy.   
  
The two of them begin walking, getting to the least populated place of the school.  
  
"Find out anything?" Hinata asks, thoughts of yesterday returning but not wanting to miss out on anything important.   
  
"Not much," Nishinoya begins with a small sigh, "Tana will be a bit late today, but we figured out that Kage is a demon of about twelfth generation capabilities, he's got some tricks up his sleeve."  
  
"Twelfth generation!?" Hinata exclaims, stumbling back a bit. He'd barely ever met a twelfth generation angel (only briefly, and it was terrifying) imagining a demon of that caliber...  
  
Nishinoya nods grimly, "Exactly. He might be a more power aimed type as well. Cold and calculating. Complete opposite of you, with your speed and convincing."  
  
Hina gulps before stuttering, "B-but he's opposite of you too! Tana would probably be the best match for him!"  
  
"We realize, but this is technically your mission, we're not supposed to interfere unless the situation is dire."  
  
"How 'dire' is dire?!"  
  
Nishinoya smiles shallowly, patting Hina's arm in reassurance, "Don't worry Hinata, we won't let anything happen to you."  
  
"I know I know," Hinata replies, still sounding nervous.   
  
"You looked like you wanted to ask something, what's up?" Nishinoya asks after a few moments.   
  
"O-oh," Hinata says, slightly shocked, "Well, I was just trying to remember our roommate...I couldn't even remember the mission he'd gone on, I didn't think that was really normal."  
  
Nishinoya pauses, face morphing from interested to confused, head tilting and eyes narrowing, "He had gone on a mission to...wait no that isn't right. I thought he'd been told to... no that's not it either."   
  
Hinata watches Nishinoya mutter to himself, realizing that the elder angel was experiencing the same thing he had.   
  
"I'll ask Tana about it. Forgetting the name is common, it's what's 'supposed' to happen, but the mission is usually what's remembered," Nishinoya sounds genuinely concerned, which puts Hinata on edge.   
  
The bell chimes, jerking the both of them out of their thoughts, "Don't worry about it, I'll figure it out," Nishinoya promises, giving Hinata a reassuring shoulder punch before walking quickly off to class.   
  
Hina watches his back, hitching his book-bag higher on his shoulder before heading to his own class.

* * *

  
"Sugawara you're here today!" Hinata greets, the third year giving him a sheepish smile.   
  
"I swear I wasn't ditching, I managed to catch a cold. I didn't want to miss another day, or else I could've stayed home," Sugawara replies, rubbing the back of his head.   
  
"Now that we have Sugawara, we can have our practice match. We'll split as evenly as possible after a few drills and spend the rest of practice on the match," Daichi announces, giving them the look of 'get moving or you'll be doing extra drills'.  
  
"Osu!" They chorus. The gym fills with the ever familiar sound of squeaking shoes as they run a few laps before stretching.   
  
Hinata notices Daichi and Sugawara move off to the side as the first and second years start setting up the nets (since they'd been taken down earlier for a different practice). Hinata ignores Kageyama's orders to work more quickly as he carefully reads the two third year's lips.   
  
"Are you sure you're alright to play?" Daichi asks quietly.   
  
Sugawara laughs, waving his hand dismally, "Of course, it's just a little cold. I barely had a fever."  
  
Daichi nods, then glances to the side, almost meeting Hinata's eyes, "And...?"  
  
"Won't ever know," Sugawara says quickly, cutting off the captain before he could continue. Hinata catches the slightly saddened look on the silver haired teen's face though as he turns away to help Yamaguchi with the net.   
  
Silver hair...that strikes him as familiar somehow.   
  
"No need to worry, I'm here now!" Hinata's thoughts are interrupted as Tanaka enters, grin plastered on his face as the door slowly slides shut behind him.   
  
"Laaaaate!" Nishinoya yells, grinning as he hurries over to his friend.   
  
"Be on time for once! We've already stretched, get moving!" Daichi calls out.   
  
"Got it!" Tanaka replies energetically. Hinata laughs as the second year dashes through the laps and stretches, barely breathing hard as he joins the spiking drills.   
  
Hinata fights to not stare at the third year setter as he has Kageyama toss to him, spiking it without much thought or force. He needs to talk to Tana and Noya about the conversation, but there's no way he could do it right now. The third years were too close.  
  
He finds himself forgetting what he wanted to talk to them about as they're split into two teams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might get out late or early depending on how kind school is.


	4. Fallen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a bit of gore, nothing too bad .  
> All aboard the DaiSuga train.
> 
> I'm so sorry for not updating for a month, school hasn't been kind and I'm typing this because I don't want to study for finals. Hopefully I can get the next chapter out after finals.

* * *

 

Sugawara lets out a long, sighed breath. He leans against the wall inside the storage room, in the corner that doesn't have any cleaning supplies occupying it. He ends up sitting on the ground in the semi-shadows, feeling both physically and emotionally exhausted.  
  
To think all three of them would just show up, not able to remember him at all. It makes his long-dead wings ache. He rubs a hand over his face, trying to bring himself back to reality.   
  
"Suga?"  
  
Suga jumps, remembering that Amura hadn't left yet. He wouldn't just leave without him after all.   
  
"Yeah I'm here," He replies, pushing off the wall to stand. He sluggishly moves to organize the dust-mops that had been used. The light filtering in from the open doorway dims, and Suga turns to see Amura staring evenly at him. Or, it would've been an even stare if Suga hadn't been able to see the underlying concern.   
  
"I'm fine, don't worry," He tries to assure the teen, trying to erase the doubt that appears on his face.  
  
"You don't have to pretend that it doesn't matter you know," Amura says, frowning as Suga forces a smile.  
  
"I know Amura, I'm not pretending," Suga replies, a small laugh bursting out of his chest, not affecting the look Amura was still giving him. He doesn't even believe his poor attempts at convincing at this point.   
  
"You are and you need to stop it," Amura orders, taking a few steps into the room and gently grabbing Suga's arm. "Because I know it does bother you that they don't remember. But think, if they did, what would they do?"  
  
"You don't have to tell me, Amura," Suga mumbles, averting his gaze, "They'd turn me in. They'd have to."  
  
"Hey hey, it'll be ok," Amura assures, not hesitating to pull Suga into a comforting hug.  
  
"No, it won't be ok, not until they leave," Suga says into Amura's shoulder, not wanting to look up. It's hard enough keeping his composure when everyone was around, let alone when he's just with Amura.   
  
"I know, you're right," Amura sighs, "What should we even do about-?"  
  
"Nothing," Suga cuts in, shaking his head and pulling away slightly to look up at Amura, "We can't do anything. You certainly can't since you haven't used your powers since-."  
  
Now it's Amura who cuts in, "You can't either. We're both pretty useless, lets just admit that."  
  
Suga mutters under his breath in displeasure, but nods and pulls away completely, but grabbing Amura's hand as they start walking out into the gym.    
  
Amura locks up, switching off all of the lights before they leave. They're both silent during the walk to Dai's apartment. Suga can't help but think back, as he had been doing all week, to the time when he fell. After all, it wasn't like the memories were far off. Three years wasn't that long of a time.

* * *

  
  
Suga breaths hard, coughing out what tastes like blood onto the dewy ground before falling over onto his back. He allows the feelings of pain to course through him as he tries to regain any available energy. He can feel the cool night air brushing up against his skin from all of the tears in his clothes. That damned demon had gotten him just as many times as he'd gotten him.   
  
His ears are ringing from the force of their last blows, but past that he can hear the demon gagging, falling to the ground in a similar way that he had. He's just out of sight from the way that Suga is laying.  
  
Suga cranes his neck, wincing past the throbbing pain that assaults his head, to see the demon lying curled on his side. His eyes are closed against the pain, which Suga finds understandable since the demon is essentially trying to keep himself from bleeding out. Suga can see a puddle of blood slowly seeping into the ground from the wound in his chest.  
  
The weapon the angel had been clutching so desperately in his hand crumbles away, taking his last hope with it. He's as helpless as the demon now.   
  
He feels the blood staining his face begin to dry and crust. The red droplets stop dripping from his nose and he can feel the gash above his eyebrow closing up. His breath still rattles through his chest though, the blood pooling in his lungs only being cleared by his coughing. All in all, he's in pretty rough shape.   
  
"H-hey, you still alive over there?"  
  
The voice makes Suga jump in shock, the noise unexpected in the earthly silence. The sudden movement makes him groan in pain, curling onto his side to cough up bile and blood. He shivers as he lays back down, feeling the cold more acutely than before.   
  
"Yeah, surprised y-you are," Suga replies, trying to sound angry or bitter, but knowing that pain and exhaustion overshadowed the tones in his voice.   
  
The demon snorts, "You definitely did a number on me, especially for your generation number." A pause as a series of coughs echoes in the little clearing. "But I have a question to ask."  
  
Suga feels his expression dip into a frown, but he turns onto his back, "Go ahead." He wishes he could fly away.  
  
"Did they give you a reason to kill me? Did your higher ups even tell you my name?" His voice has gotten rougher, raspier. Suga can't tell if the demon is getting closer to death.  
  
He takes a shallow breath and tries to think, feeling like any memories before this night were blurred and irrelevant. Although he does know that that was one of his major concerns on this mission. 'Who was the demon? Why did he have to die?' However he never really questioned it. The pain in his head grows.   
  
The demon grows tired of Suga's deliberation, "I'm Amura Dai, I'm assuming you know who I am."  
  
Suga holds his breath in shock, feeling a cold dread curling in his chest, "You're the ambassador, on simple terms...but why?"  
  
A bitter laugh echoes, "I don't know." Amura sounds sad as he replies, "I received orders to kill any angel that approached me, but got no other information. It wasn't until you attacked me that I realized that those orders probably went both ways."  
  
"No way..." Suga murmurs, slowly moving to sit up. He's no where near healed enough to not receive medical attention, but he feels that he needs to do this. He crawls over to the demon, a wince on his face.  
  
"What're you doing?" Amura asks in suspicion, managing to lift himself up on his forearms. He follows Suga's movements with a glare.  
  
"Slight healing abilities," Suga replies, "Like your sight." His breath comes in harsh pants as he transfers the healing powers from himself to Dai.   
  
"You're just as injured, you shouldn't-!" Dai begins to protest. Suga punches the demon hard in the ribs before he can finish his statement, feeling the bones fracture. The angel draws the smallest amount of satisfaction from the choked and pained whine before setting out to heal the injury he'd just caused.    
  
His vision blurs after a few moments, and he sits back, knowing that the demon wasn't in danger of death anymore. He lets himself fall back to lie on the grass once again, hearing the demon's worried shout.  
   
"I'll be fine, someone will come get me soon," Suga murmurs, letting his exhaustion overcome him.  
  


* * *

  
Morning greets Suga to the chirping of birds and the feeling of being in an unfamiliar bed.  He sits up quickly, reaching for a weapon while trying to push away the lights clouding his vision. He remembers that his beloved dagger had crumbled away. There's nothing nearby to use as a weapon that he can see.  
  
Before he can push away the blankets to stand and try to find a weapon, a voice makes him startle.   
  
"I'm not going to hurt you, "  
  
Suga looks up with wide eyes to see Dai standing in the doorway, looking a combination of uncomfortable and sad. Suspicion and worry makes Suga's eyes narrow and scrutinize Dai's appearance. The demon was fine, completely recovered from their fight.    
  
"What am I doing here," He asks coldly, ready to ask another question before a realization hits him. He hurries to slide out of bed, standing on unsteady legs. He can see Dai take a few steps into the room, but he doesn't even care.  
  
Suga feels so weighed down, and a cold shudder runs down his spine as he tries to spread his wings. A searing pain courses down his spine and through his body as he looks at his wings to see charred black feathers.  
  
A hand moves to cover his mouth, and he tries to smother the sobs of horror as true realization hits him. He'd fallen, no one would remember him. All because he'd helped the demon now attempting to comfort him.   
  



	5. Kage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are a little weird for this story right now, I added things that I wasn't going to add for another few chapters, but I did accomplish a few things that I wanted to. Plus a Christmas update, Happy Holidays!  
> (I didn't edit this chapter as well as I should've because I just couldn't write what I wanted to, I'll probably edit the details later. Yell at me if there's some really big mistakes).

  
Every day had a living hell for Suga for nearly an entire year. Having fell means that he goes through the transition from being a powerful being, to partially human.The first week he spent unconscious, according to Dai anyway. The month was spent in a feverish state, and the next three months were spent wishing he was dead.  
  
He knew the stages, it was a common knowledge with angels about what would happen. He would first lose his wings, then his 'immortality', then his powers. And on the opposing side, everyone he'd known would forget about him, and the final step would be being unable to go back.  
  
It was only after he'd tried to go back his own way did he realize why he should stay.  
  
He'd been pressing the knife Dai had used to fight him against his throat when the demon had actually walked in, and quickly persuaded him out of it. After that Dai made him attend the school, Karasuno high school under the guise of normal first years. Both of them took interest in the volleyball club, and Suga gradually felt better with living as a human.  
  
Miraculously, his powers hadn't gone like he'd thought they would. Although, he luckily didn't need to use them. Dai and him kept underneath the radar, it would mean certain death if they were found out.  
  
A fallen angel and a runaway demon, they had targets on their heads.  And now that three angels had shown up, and a high level demon, Suga had a bad feeling that they were going to be found out soon enough.  
  
He only hoped that Hina and the others would be the ones to do it.

* * *

  
  
Hina goes to school feeling more energetic than usual, which he only finds odd because he's used to feeling tired after having to restrain his powers. Maybe it means something good will happen today.  
  
He tries to work off some of the energy during morning practice, laughing off the comments on how upbeat he is with dismal excuses. He tries to put his energy to good use, closely watching all the members on the team. He's able to catch Suga's 'subtle' glances.  
  
"Alright see you guys at afternoon practice, remember we have that practice match in a few days."  
  
"Osu!"  
  
Hinata changes quickly into his school uniform, toeing his normal shoes on before following Kageyama out to the main building.  
  
"We need to finish that project for English today," Kageyama says first.  
  
"Ah, damn I totally forgot about it," Hinata sighs, almost feeling his mood dropping.  
  
"I assume you haven't even worked on it," Kageyama says accusingly, "At least I've done some of the research."  
  
"Hey I forgot about it, we can work on it tonight after practice," Hinata replies with a frown, "We'll easily be able to finish it."  
  
Kageyama snorts, "As long as you actually work. We'll go to my apartment after school."  
  
"Fine," Hinata agrees, although he's a little cautious. Something seems off...

* * *

  
After practice, Nishinoya grabs Hinata's arm and drags him back to where Tanaka was waiting just outside the door. The three of them begin walking in the direction of their apartments, and Hinata can see that Kageyama has already started walking without him. He ignores him for the moment though.  
  
"I was just contacted by the higher ups, an ace is coming down to help," Noya says quickly, his voice low to try and not attract the attention of anyone nearby.  
  
Hina pales, "An ace? You mean like above fifteenth generation? You're not serious right?"  
  
"He's serious Hina, but according to them, we'll need the help," Tana replies grimly.  
  
"Why do they say that?" Hinata asks nervously, glancing around as if expecting a demon to be creeping up on them right then.  
  
"They're suspecting that there's three demons now, but they can't figure out why. All they really know is that Kage and another high level demon named Tsu is here, they haven't told us about the third one yet," Nishinoya explains.  
  
"Ok, so then who's the ace coming to help?" Hina asks next.  
  
"Asahi, fifteenth generation. Our roommate knew...him...?" Noya trails off, tilting his head as he tries to remember whether or not that memory was actually true. "Either way he's supposed to be really strong."  
  
"Alright," Hina says, "It does still make me nervous to think that we would need that much help though."  
  
Noya shrugs, "I think we'd be fine on our own, but the higher ups seem to doubt our strengths."  
  
"Just means we can't lose," Tana grins confidently, "We'll be fine."  
  
Hina nods, "When's he supposed to get here?"  
  
Noya pauses, as if realizing something, "Not sure actually."  
  
"So he's coming to help us but we don't know when exactly he'll show up?" Hina says curiously.  
  
"Well at least they're coming to help," Tana shrugs, "Anyway, I need to get going, see you guys."  
  
"Alright, I have a project to finish with Kageyama tonight too, I should probably catch up with him," Hina says cheerily, waving goodbye before jogging to catch up with Kageyama who was quite a bit ahead of him.  
  
Hinata thinks on the Ace. He does have a feeling that their roommate had known him, especially since he had been an important angel himself. Wait...  
  
Hinata slows down a bit and tilts his head. He'd been an important angel?  
  
He shakes his head, he shouldn't be allowing himself to get so distracted, he needs to first catch up with Kageyama. The taller teen had actually stopped and was looking back at Hinata with a glare.  
  
"What took you so long?" Kageyama grumbles.  
  
"Tanaka was just talking to me about the practice match," Hinata replies easily, "So what do we have to do for the project?"  
  
"You don't even remember that?" Kageyama asks, which Hinata just shakes his head too. Kageyama rolls his eyes and begins to explain the basis of the project. Hinata kind of zones out as Kageyama continues to talk, until he glances over at Kageyama. His eyes widen in shock.  
  
Hina stops walking, staring intently at Kageyama's back. The taller teen pauses once he realizes that Hinata is no longer beside him, and he glances back with a glare.  
  
"What are you doing?" He growls, turning fully to meet Hinata's eyes.  
  
"It's you, I can't believe I didn't notice before," Hinata states, staring intently at a spot just over Kageyama's shoulders.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about," Kageyama asks, stalking a few steps closer. He narrows his eyes in suspicion when Hinata just gives him an even look.  
  
"What's your name?" Hinata asks.  
  
"Kageyama you idiot," He answers stubbornly.  
  
"No, what's your actual name," Hinata says more insistently, pouring influence into his voice.  
  
Kageyama growls something under his breath, "Kage."  
  
Hinata immediately springs back, reaching for his dagger and bringing it up in front of his chest. He lets his bike and bag fall on the ground beside him without a second glance.  
  
"Why are you here,"  Hina inquires, warily regarding the demon that has now placed his bag carefully on the ground and is standing weaponless.  
  
"Were you not told by your council on why you were to come here?" Kage scoffs, "I'm shocked."  
  
"No, I was told enough," Hina replies, miffed.  
  
"Obviously not if you're confronting me right now," Kage scowls, crossing his arms across his chest. Hina can more clearly see the bat-like wings that are folded and pressed against his back. He can't yet completely see past the guise the demon has up.  
  
"I don't get what you're saying," Hina says cautiously, not yet willing to put the dagger away even though Kage is still weaponless.  
  
Kage glares, "You'll find out soon enough."  
  
The demon is suddenly in his face, pressing a sword up against his throat. Hina pales, and flies backward, almost literally as he feels his wings coming loose from the magical bindings. Kage's darkened eyes narrow as he lunges once again. Hina is barely able to knock away the weapon, yelping in pain.  
  
Kage was really strong.  
  
Hina is weighing his options as he barely manages to knock away the blade a second time. He could try to get Tana or Noya, most likely Noya, but he doesn't want to take the moment. Plus, he really thinks he can take Kage. Hopefully.  
  
Forcing off a few more bindings, he uses his speed to get behind the demon, lashing out at the base of his back. However the demon twists around and blocks him, only keeping upright by splaying his wings.  
  
Hina growls in frustration and tries another tactic, getting up in the air and trying to find out where Kage's blind spot is. No where apparently, as the demon leaps up in the air to meet him, managing to nick Hina's arm before he can dodge.  
  
Hissing, Hinata decides to retaliate, uncaringly flying towards Kage. The demon doesn't have enough time to react as Hina inflicts a deep cut o his side. But as Hina had grabbed Kage's arm, Kage had grabbed his and didn't let go. The small angel fights to remain in the air and not let Kage get the upper hand as they both try to knock the weapons away. Kage wins the battle as Hina's dagger gets knocked away to the ground.  
  
Mourning the loss of his weapon, Hina doesn't waste a second in grappling to get the sword out of Kage's grip. He realizes the exact moment when he's going to lose, and does everything he can to avoid it.  
  
He folds his wings close to his body and drops straight to the ground, stopping himself just before hitting the ground. He runs over and grabs his dagger, before knocking away Kage's sword.  
  
Hina gasps as he feels his leg give out, before he can try to run away any further. Kage pins him to the ground, pressing a hand into his shoulder to keep him down and pointing his sword at Hina's throat.  
  
"Are you going to kill me?" Hina asks, defiantly glaring up at Kage.  
  
"Oh I wish," Kage replies, "Unfortunately curiosity has gotten the better of me.  Why would I be asked to kill you, little angel?"  
  
"I could ask that myself," Hina replies haughtily, "Why would I be told to kill you?"  
  
"This is going nowhere. I have done many things worthy of being targeted, however you seem to be a lot more innocent than I," Kage snorts.  
  
"Well of course! All I do is follow orders," Hina says, "And my current orders were to kill you."  
  
Kage chuckles darkly, "You don't seem in any position to do that at the moment. Were you told any other information on me? I was told quite a bit about you."  
  
"Nothing," Hina says hesitantly, "Only that you were as powerful as a twelfth generation angel." A name is whispered in the back of his mind, but he doesn't have the attention to dissect the thought as the blade is pressed further to his throat.  
  
Kage hums in acknowledgement and draws away, letting Hina sit up and rub at his neck, "I don't want to kill you just yet. I need to figure something out."  
  
The angel eyes Kage warily as the sword fades away, and Kage's human features return as he stands. He leaves Hina sitting near his bike before heading in the direction of his apartment.  
  
Hina grumbles under his breath in confusion as he picks up his bag and sets up his bike. He winces as pain lances through his leg, and taking a second to look at it, there's a very painful looking burn.  
  
He's able to quickly make his way to his apartment, where he tries his best to bandage and treat the injuries the demon had given him. He almost wishes he had healing like Su-  
  
Who?  
  
Hina shakes his head, unable to focus on the name. He sighs and gets ready for bed. Just before falling asleep, he remembers something.  
  
"That English project is due tomorrow!"


	6. Messengers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in so long and I'm so so sorry for that.
> 
> Half of it is loss of inspiration, half because the manga. The fucking manga I swear. I won't spoil it but man I cried because Furudate is a cruel cruel man.  
> Also, thank you to all those giving feedback! It's always a good thing to find out that people read and enjoy my stories! Especially this one, I almost feel like it's slipping away from me a bit.
> 
> (I swear I proofread but this chapter ended up so long I'm not sure I fixed all the mistakes.)

* * *

 

"Hey Tsukki, are we going to work on the project tonight?"

Hinata glances up at Yamaguchi's voice, seeing that he's talking to Tsukishima. He quickly averts his gaze from the tall middle blocker, not really feeling like arguing at the moment. That first year irritates him so much. He honestly isn't that sure why. His attention goes across the gym to where Kageyama is aimlessly setting the ball towards the wall. He and Kageyama had kept their distance at the moment, neither really wiling to fight the other, and unsure how to really approach the situation.   
  
At least they were given a second chance to finish that English project when they told the teacher they left it at home. They should probably actually do that. Maybe he can persuade Kageyama to do the entire project...  
  
"Hey Hinata..." Hinata jumps at the hand that rests on his shoulder, fearing it was (illogically) Kageyama, but turns to see it's just Sugawara.  
  
"Yeah?" He asks nervously, not knowing what the third year was going to say.  
  
"Are you limping?" Sugawara asks in concern, gesturing to Hinata's ankle.   
  
"Oh, yeah I just tripped over my books this morning, it's nothing big!" Hinata explains quickly, relief and panic warring briefly inside of his chest as he speaks through the lie. He'd already told Tana and Noya about Kage and the fight they'd had, although the two of them promised not to do anything. They all knew it wasn't the right moment to engage him.   
  
"Ah, well I hope it feels better soon, make sure to rest if it starts to hurt too much, we don't want our best decoy to be out of the game," Sugawara says with a grin, ruffling Hinata's hair before walking away. Hinata's smile fades a little as he  watches Sugawara's back, feeling almost sad before shrugging it off.  
  
He walks outside and grabs his bike from the bike rack, slightly glad that practice had ended early so that he wouldn't have to be so near Kage for a longer time. A few testing taps against the ground makes him raise his eyebrows. His ankle surprisingly felt better than it had all day. Maybe his healing had finally kicked in.  
  
"Hina!"  
  
"Gah! What!" He yelps, jumping back at the loud voice, bumping into his bike and struggling not to knock it over completely. Tana laughs as Hina finally gets the bike upright, ignoring the glare sent his way.  
  
"Not like you to be lost in thought," Tana grins, poking the middle of Hina's forehead, "If you think too hard and you're going to hurt your brain."  
  
Hina smacks Tana's hand away but has to force down the grin, making it into a scowl, "Hey, at least I'm trying to come up with strategies and stuff!"  
  
Noya whistles as he walks up on the other side of Hina, making the angel jump a bit at his sudden appearance,"Full of spite aren't ya? Still angry over Kage?"  
  
"Not that much," Hina huffs, "I'm just trying to think about the best way to figh-avoid him."  
  
Tana roughly ruffles Hina's hair, making the shorter protest and try to fight away his hand, "Like I said, no need to think so hard! We'll figure something out!"  
  
"What was Sugawara asking you about as he was leaving?" Noya asks, stopping the two of them from fighting anymore.  
  
"Oh," Hina says, thinking that neither of them would've noticed the short conversation, "Just about my ankle, I thought I covered the limp pretty well too," He pouts, "I just told him I tripped over my books this morning."  
  
"Hm, you were hiding it really well, I wonder how he could tell," Noya muses, becoming more serious, "Something is odd about Sugawara, he's very perceptive for a human."  
  
"Same with Daichi, both of them are really perceptive, we're lucky our memory twisting is so powerful or else I think those two would find us out," Tana agrees, "Maybe they're reincarnated angels or something."  
  
"And you blame me for thinking too much," Hina accuses, rolling his eyes.   
  
"Oh?" Tana says grinning almost evilly, taking a few menacing steps forward, "Say that again punk-"  
  
"I see you're all goofing off as usual."  
  
Tana freezes in place, realization dawning on his face as he turns to the new voice, "Kiyoko!"  
  
She remains still as Tana and Noya run towards her, easily pushing them both aside once they get too close, "I have a message for you three, please stay quiet and listen."  
  
Tana and Noya immediately move back to stand beside Hina, barely containing their joy at seeing Kiyoko so soon. However their faces fall as the scrawling gold text begins to float in the air between them, Kiyoko beginning to read the orders.   
  
"Tana is to report back once he hears this message, Noya is to remain with Hina until Asahi is able to join the mission, at that point he will also return. No one should engage Kage until sufficient reinforcement has arrived. There have been reports of two high level demons in the area, but no data has been recovered for either of them. Caution is advised, that is all," Kiyoko recites, the writing fading as she takes a calming breath.  
  
After a few moments of tense silence, Tana speaks, anger tinging his voice, "Why do I have to report back? I can't just leave the both of them if there's even more dangerous demons around!"  
  
Kiyoko gives him an even stare, voice remaining calm despite the look in her eyes, "You are to report back, and once Asahi joins Hina, Noya is to report back as well. I was told to use force if I had to, don't make this hard on yourself."

Hinata notices Kiyoko didn't answer Tana's question, it makes him nervous as to why Tana would be called back.   
  
"We'll be fine Tana, don't worry about us!" Noya says to interrupt his friend from fighting. His voice diffuses Tana's argument, quickly keeping the other angel from saying anything too rash,  "There's probably something more important that you need to do!"  
  
"Yeah," Tana mutters, clearly forcing himself not to argue anymore, "That's probably it."  
  
"I have other messages to deliver, Tana please return, I bid you all good luck," Kiyoko says politely, the tense air between them all shattering as she turns around and jumps into the air, wings unfurling from her back.   
  
Hina watches her until she's out of sight, lost in thought. Kiyoko hadn't brought good news like they'd hoped and expected.

He almost wishes he was a messenger, they were able to keep their powers at all times, and they were more often than not ridiculously powerful. Kiyoko herself was nearly an Ace, her threat of using force definitely wasn't empty. He doesn't think he'd like giving orders like that though. He looks over at Tana and Noya, seeing the both of them grimly looking at the sky where Kiyoko had vanished.   
  
"You can always come help us again if we're really in trouble," Noya says quietly, "It'd be best to just head back for now, stay safe bro." He holds out his hand. After a few moments Tana sighs in defeat and nods, giving him a fist bump.   
  
"Count on it, don't do anything stupid you two," He grins at that, patting Hina's shoulder before taking off at a sprint down the road. He's nearly out of sight by the time they see him jump into the air, then vanishing amongst the low cloud cover.   
  
"Something's up, they wouldn't summon us back without reason," Noya comments once Tana is out of sight, staring at the spot where he had flown.   
  
"Two more high level demons showing up..." Hina murmurs, feeling unease curling through his chest, "That's three demons we have to deal with."  
  
Noya slaps his shoulder, "Hey, no need to be all negative, we'll be fine! Especially with our Ace showing up soon!"  
  
Hina nods, but can't bring himself to be optimistic about the situation. A raindrop splatters on his nose, and he looks at the stormy clouds with a small amount of distaste. He can't help but feel like it's an omen of what's to come.

* * *

 

  
"Why are you here." The snapped statement flies from him before he can stop himself. Rain drips from his hair, making his annoyance grow with ever passing second as the weather grows worse, and yet they were forced to be outside.  
  
"Making sure you're not slacking off on your mission, King," Tsu replies dismally, smirking at Kage as the shorter begins to grow more irritated.   
  
Kage's glare grows fiercer, "I can handle this on my own."  
  
Tsu shrugs, unaffected by Kage's anger, "Guess the higher ups don't believe you."  
  
"Well you can go back and tell them that I can!" Kage growls in response.   
  
The air seems to grow colder around the two of them as Tsu takes a menacing step forward,"When did I start taking orders from you? Tell them yourself if you want to so bad."  
  
"You can just tell them when you go back, which will be right now," Kage hisses, blue irises darkening threateningly.   
  
Tsu grabs the collar of Kage's shirt, getting in his face, "I _just_ said. _I. Don't. Take. Orders. From. You_." He shoves Kage roughly away after the last word, letting the other demon bump into the wall behind him. After stumbling for a moment, Kage brushes the rain off his face. He growls under his breath and dives at Tsu, catching him off guard enough to pin him to the ground. Water and mud splashes onto the both of them, but Kage disregards this for the moment. He digs a knee into the blonds chest and pulls out his knife, pressing it under Tsu's chin against his throat.   
  
"I'll tell _you_ again since you can't seem to listen to me. _I. Don't. Need. Help_." With each word her presses the blade harder against Tsu's neck, drawing a thin line of blood.   
  
"Now now Tobio, don't you think that's a bit extreme?"   
  
At the new voice Kage freezes, slowly moving to look at the new demon. His glare grows harsher as he realizes who it is, but withdraws the knife and stands away from Tsu. He flicks water from the blade and forces himself to put it away. The temptation to stab the demon in front of him would be to great.   
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" He snarls, itching to draw his knife again despite the fact he'd just sheathed it. Tsu stands beside him, but Kage completely ignores the blond. Oikawa still manages to look perfect even when soaked in the downpour, which pisses Kage off even more.  
  
Oikawa raises his hands innocently, "I'm not here to interfere with your mission, I'm just here to...pick up something."  
  
Kage raises an eyebrow, not letting down his guard, "I hope that something is Tsu."  
  
Oikawa laughs, "Oh Tobio, of course not, you should really accept Tsu's help you know, you'll definitely need it soon. I'm here to pick up someone else," Oikawa continues vaguely, smiling slightly as he takes a few steps forward. "I just didn't want you to kill  poor Tsukki here."  
  
Tsu glares at Oikawa when he uses that awful nickname, but doesn't say anything against it as he rubs the blood off of his neck.   
  
"What do you mean I'll need help soon?" Kage asks, growing more frustrated with all the unclear answers he was getting.   
  
"You'll find out soon, now don't kill each other ok? I can't babysit you two all the time," Oikawa says pleasantly, walking smoothly past the both of them before they could do anything, and vanishing around the corner.   
  
"Tch, self-centered bastard," Kage hisses under his breath, drawing his knife and throwing it at the wall. The blade sinks a few inches into the brick, sending shards of the material across the slick grass. He barely draws any satisfaction from hitting a non-living target.  
  
"Don't let him hear that, he might come back," Someone states, making both Kage and Tsu jump in surprise. Through the haze of rain they can see another figure leaning against the wall.  
  
"When the hell did you get here Iwaizumi?" Kage asks, more curious than pissed off. He could try to get at Oikawa, bit Iwaizumi was not a demon to be messed with.  
  
Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest, "I'm Oikawa's partner for literally every mission why the fuck would I not be shadowing him."  
  
Kage realizes that a second after asking and makes a small noise of confirmation, glancing warily at the corner that Oikawa had disappeared around.  
  
"Why aren't you following him?" Tsu asks, glancing warily at Iwaizumi.  
  
"Because he'll be back in a moment, he actually has a message to give to you two," The demon replies, running a hand through his short hair, "I'd rather not waste my energy running after him if he's coming right back here."  
  
Kage's eyebrows furrow, of course it was very like Oikawa to not directly follow orders or even withhold information, but why was he doing something like this in such a crucial time?  
  
A moment later Oikawa reappears, dragging someone with him by the arm, Kage's eyes widen in surprise as he notices arcing golden wings, completely unaffected by the rain and casting a faint light into the alley they'd converged in.  
  
"Shimizu here will help us out," Oikawa says pleasantly.  
  
"Get your hands off of me right now," Kiyoko states calmly, light emanating from her skin. Kage felt a sense of wariness, backing away from the angel as the light forces the demons to squint.  
  
"Help me first then you can continue your errands," Oikawa answers, gripping her arm with a firmer grip. The sound of sizzling skin, amplified through the rain, makes Kage flinch internally, he hated that noise.  
  
"What do you want?" Kiyoko asks, not letting the light fade despite the fact that the burns would be occurring on both ends.  
  
"Tell me how many angels are stationed in this town at this moment," Oikawa says immediately, voice growing tenser as the light grows more concentrated.  
  
Kiyoko speaks with a smirk in her voice, not showing the slightest hint of pain, "What, don't have informants to do that for you? Such a shame they were all killed off."  
  
Oikawa lashes out, catching Kiyoko off balance. The angel doesn't waste a second in retaliated, snapping out an arm and slamming an elbow into Oikawa's chest. He snarls angrily, less hurt and more startled by the action. Iwaizumi doesn't make a move, and just watches as Shimizu lashes out a kick at Oikawa's head, sending the demon down to the ground. Not a moment is wasted in her escape, and she's gone before Oikawa can even stand.  
  
"Why didn't you get her Iwaizumi?" Oikawa snarls, glaring at the other demon and yet trying to regain his composure. The mud coating his previously pristine clothes almost makes Kage laugh.  
  
"That was a stupid idea that only an idiot like you would come up with, don't even try to pin this on me," Iwaizumi answers easily, having yet to move from his position of leaning against the wall, "Stop messing around and just give these two the message."  
  
Oikawa mutters under his breath, anger directed towards Iwaizumi, before turning to Tsu and Kage. Text appears in the air, the ink in a bright contrast to the rainy night sky.  
  
"Any angels you've come across must be eliminated, there are traitors in our midst that must be stopped. The angels have become aware of our plans and are sending out troops to counter them. We need to retain our upper hand for as long as possible, therefore caution is pointless. Kill the angels, weed out the traitors."  
  
Oikawa's dark gaze meets Kage's, "No more fooling around with human guises, seek out the angels and kill them. We all have our own targets, and each of us are going to get rid of them. Got it?"  
  
Tsu sighs, "Does that mean I'm ordered back? I was never given a target."  
  
"No," Oikawa answers sharply, "The angels have more reinforcements on the way, I can tell because that damn Shimizu only appears to give battle orders, you will stay here. Iwazumi and I have our own targets to deal with, but we will be around for the time being."  
  
Kage sighs internally at that, that means Oikawa can bother them at any time he wants, "Are these orders in affect as of immediately?" He inquires.  
  
"How clear do I have to be for it to get through your little head Kage," Oikawa sighs endearingly, seeming to have finally regained control of his anger,"If you know of an angel, you go kill him right now, it's that simple."  
  
"Fine,"  Kage snaps, feeling annoyance creeping back with every moment spent with the other demons, "If you're done, can I leave?"  
  
Oikawa smirks, "Of course, I guess you actually didn't fail your mission for once, going to find Hina?"  
  
Kage grits his teeth,  "Yes."  
  
Oikawa grins, dark eyes emanating a cold aura, "Then you'll have no problem killing him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THE STORY
> 
> I'm sure you noticed how I started using real names (Shimizu, Oikawa, etc.) and that's because I thought shortening those would be weird. However now I'm debating changing all names back to normal. It wouldn't be instantaneous because I'm hella busy but I might just do that. Then again I kinda like the nicknames, I'll have to decide something at some point. 
> 
> Also I came up with a new system for Generation rankings, because the other was just confusing me. If you didn't pay attention to those then awesome! They're pretty pointless to be honest. Don't pay attention if you don't care about aimless details, I just thought this was fun to come up with.
> 
> 1-5 are low level (Once labeled 5 they're sent on demon missions.)  
> 6-14 are fairly high level  
> 15 or above is Ace or titled otherwise. Demons use the same system.  
> Their rankings come from their offensive or defensive nature, it's possible to fool the system and get a lower ranking but really be high up (ex: Tsu is 8 but he could easily be 10 or 11). 
> 
> I'll try to get the next update out sooner, I've been awful about regular updates lately.  
> As a heads up I probably won't get an update out for the next two weeks (tech stuff), but after that I'll try to get into a regular update schedule!


	7. Ace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late update I know, don't throw things at me.  
> This chapter is all bullshit really, the real plot starts up again next chapter but I had to get this chapter out of the way first. It ended at a weird place too but oh well. Next chapter will be more interesting I swear.

* * *

 

Hina and Noya walk home together, both agreeing that they had a bad feeling. Something was going to happen and neither wanted to be alone to deal with it. The rain had started pouring down once they were halfway to Hina's apartment, and it was in that moment that Hina was sure that something was definitely going to go wrong.

"Should we stay away from the apartment?" Hina asks quietly, voice tense as he glances around. The rain is obscuring his vision, keeping him from seeing any more than a few feet in front of him.

Noya is just as wary, swiveling his head around and glancing up towards the sky as if someone was going to attack from above, "There are a lot of humans there, and this could get dangerous." After a few moments of him looking around, he continues, "Lets walk slower and hope nothing comes after us."

Hina tightens his grip on the handlebars of his bike, feeling it begin to slip from his grip. In the back of his mind, he realizes that his books must be completely ruined, but can't think on it for too long as a strike of lightning ignites the sky.

"Whoa!" Noya bumps into Hina, surprised by the sudden light and thunder, and ends up unintentionally knocking them both over. Both of them fall to the pavement, Hina winces as he lands on top of his bike, the metal digging painfully into his side and back. Noya hand landed on top of Hina, but hisses as he picks himself up, covering a scraped elbow.

"Sorry Hina, I didn't expect that," Noya apologizes, helping Hina up with his free hand, looking up at the storm apprehensively.

"Maybe we should just head back to the apartment, it'd be better than standing out in the storm," Hina replies, picking up his bike and rubbing at his side, he didn't think a bike would hurt that much to land on.

Noya mumbles something in response, and the both of them begin moving at a faster pace towards the apartments. Hina doesn't realize he's dropped his guard until Noya is suddenly shouting and pushing him off to the side, blurring out of sight once he gains access to his speed.

Shaking off the stun from being knocked to the ground so suddenly, Hina scrambles to avoid the blade that lands next to his head. Another is thrown, this one managing to nick his cheek as he dodges to the side. A hand on his wrist makes him start, but it's only Noya, pulling him backwards so quickly that he almost gets hit in the leg with one of those knives.

"We need to run!" Noya yells, fighting to be heard over the sound of rain and their pounding feet as they begin traveling the city streets. Hina doesn't disagree, glancing back to see a demon had taken to the air, a crack of lighting illuminating dark hair and piercing blue eyes. There's someone else, but Hina isn't able to catch the details of their features as he turns back around.

"It's Kage!" He says urgently to Noya, almost slipping and falling on the slick surface of the road. Noya curses, and vaults off of a guardrail to get off the road, sliding on the grassy slope leading down to the beginnings of the forest. Hina doesn't hesitate to follow,steadily catching up to Noya with his own speed.

Noya begins weaving through trees, their vision clearer as the rain is stopped by the thick canopy, "We can't fight him right now, it's not right," Noya hisses, glancing back again and again, hoping to not see Kage but is sorely disappointed each time.

"Well he's going to keep chasing us!" Hina replies, coming to that realization as he sees a shadow flitting through the trees behind them, forced to be on the ground due to the close proximity of the branches.

Another curse from Noya as they come to the end of the forest and enter a clearing that ends at another treeline. However instead of continuing to run, he twists around and draws his weapon, the gold cylinder growing thinner and lengthening into a staff. The moment Kage flits from the forest, Noya leaps forward, vanishing in a split second and appearing again behind Kage. The demon is able to keep up with Noya's unbelievable speed, sword in hand and blocking the attack aimed towards his back.

"You shouldn't let your attention wander," A bored voice says from behind Hina, and he can't twist around in time before he's thrown backwards when a sword sheath connects to his chest. The breath is knocked out of him as he hits the ground, pain arcing through his upper half as lifts himself upright drawing his dagger. Shock makes his eyes widen as he sees it's Tsukishima standing in front of him, sword sheath in one hand and sword in the other.

"Hina!" Noya shouts when he sees that the other angel is in trouble. He can't even try to move to help though, with Kage forcing more weight onto his sword Noya's balance wavers.

"Don't lose focus Noya!" Hina shouts back with what breath he'd regained, standing and facing Tsukishima. That would explain why he hated the first year so much. He takes a deep breath before sprinting forward, attempting to get in range to use his dagger, but Tsukishima stops him easily with a halfhearted swing of his own blade. Hina is forced to block it and move back out of range.

He growls in frustration as Tsukishima follows him, forcing him to go purely on the defensive. He knows that he should be trying to get under his guard, since he has the smaller weapon, but the demon wasn't exactly displaying any openings. Hina grits his teeth as he's thrown back once again, but this time he's unable to get up.

Tsukishima pins him easily, keeping a knee pressed to his chest and his sword to Hina's throat. His expression remains bland as he looks over to where Kage was fighting Noya still, "You want me to kill him?"

Kage looks over in surprise, losing focus on Noya. That instant was all it took for the angel lash out with his staff, catching Kage in the side of his head and sending him down to the ground. Noya vanishes only to reappear in front of Tsukishima, startling him enough for Hina to push him off. 

"What the fuck Tsu!" Kage yells angrily, lifting himself off the ground. Blood obscures his vision on his right side, and even so he has to squint through the rain.

"You're the one who looked away, not my fault," the demon replies with a sigh, turning back to where Noya and Hina were standing with their weapons raised. Kage flies to stand beside Tsu, looking more than pissed off. Hina gulps at the look in his dark eyes.

"You're the one after my target, back off," Kage snaps, readjusting his grip on his sword.

"Finish the job then, or is the King going to back out again?" Tsu mocks, sneering as Kage looks ready to kill him. Hina and Noya watch the demon's interaction with wide eyes, but are then completely caught off guard when the demons dive at them.

Noya skips back away from Tsu, but Hina is only able to bring his dagger up to deflect Kageyama's sword. He's once again put on defensive, but with each attack he gets closer to being cut, until the blade catches his arm and his yelp of alarm gives Kageyama the opening to knock his dagger away and inflict a deeper cut on his other arm so that he wouldn't be able to hold his dagger as easily.

Noya wants to run over and help Hina, but Tsu was pushing him too far back, and both of them were exchanging blows with such precision that he wasn't sure who would miss their target first.

With one final clang, Noya feels his staff flying from his grip, landing a good distance away and buzzing with the force of their exchange. However Tsu's weapon had also flown out of reach, sheathed into the ground. Tsu looks at it with distaste, but simply draws the knives he keeps as a secondary weapon. Noya pales, the angels weren't allowed their secondary weapons on this mission, his only option was to get his staff back. However the way that they were positioned, he'd have to run past Tsu, and although Noya was still faster, he doubted he'd be able to shake the demon for more than a few seconds.

He glances over at Hina, seeing that he was still fighting back against Kage, even without his weapon, but he wasn't doing too well. Noya returns his attention back to Tsu, and prepares to use all of his speed to get his weapon back .

Tsu doesn't even move as Noya vanishes, instead turning and throwing a knife to where his weapon was lying. Noya wasn't expecting that maneuver, and stops just in front of his staff, grimacing as he reaches up to feel the blade lodged in his shoulder.

"You're predictable," Tsu says boredly, "Just let me kill you already." He walks closer to Noya, spinning another few knives around his hand, preparing to throw them. Noya has to reach back with his non-dominant hand, bringing his staff up in front of him. His eyes widen as he realizes he won't be quick enough to block all of the knives, at least one of them were sure to hit their target. He can't move, his eyes widen as he tightens his grip around his staff, but can't move to block any of the blades that are now flying through the air towards him. He closes his eyes and waits for the inevitable-

Metallic clangs ring through the air, and he can feel someone beside him, pressing against his shoulder. His eyes snap open, not registering what he was seeing but bounding back out of the way. His shoulder throbs in pain, but he can only stare as the new arrival stands to face Tsu, as well as Kage who'd dragged Hina by the collar of his shirt to where he was now standing.

"Who the hell are you?" Kage snarls, gaining an even more murderous air.

"Does it really matter? I'm just here to finish you two off," The angel answers coolly, bringing his staff up to a more offensive position.

"As if," Tsu snorts, cockily smirking as he walks over to retrieve his sword. Kage drops Hina, ignoring the unconscious angel as he walks closer. Noya waits until Kage is closer to the Ace than to Hina before darting forward and moving him out of danger.

The battle that immediately ensues involves such a quick flurry of blows that even Noya was having a hard time following. Deciding it was rather pointless to just stare at the sparks from their weapons, he instead inspects Hina. He'd been hit in the side of his head hard enough to knock him out, and blood was matting his orange hair to his skin on that side. The only other major injury was the gash on his right arm.

As he's looking over the younger angels injuries, he wakes up, staring at Noya with surprised eyes. "Noya? Whats happened?" He asks almost panicked. Noya looks up to the battle, seeing that Tsu was barely standing, staying out of the way and holding his torso where he'd obviously been cut pretty badly. Kage is still fighting, but is easily being beaten back.

"Is that..." Hina trails off, amazed by the angels fighting abilities.

"Yep, that's our Ace," Noya answers, feeling himself grinning.

Kage falls back, breathing hard but still maintaining his murderous glare, "Tsu," he calls to the other demon, conveying his plan with just once glance. The other demon shrugs, "I don't plan on dying here."

Hina sits up quick, paling but not letting himself pass out again, "They're going to get away," He says to Noya, voice strained. Noya has a grim expression, but is barely able to stand himself to try and help. They can only watch as Kage dives at Asahi, but feints and vanishes, ending up behind him. He sheaths his sword and easily sprinting into the air. Asahi turns back around, but Tsu is gone as well.

Noya had taken off running after Tsu, getting up into the air but loses sight of him before he could get close enough, and is forced to land again, feeling the strain of his injuries.

"Shit, I should've followed Kage," Asahi curses, walking over to where Noya was sitting beside Hina, "I'm sorry it took so long to get here, they wouldn't let me go for the longest time."

Noya waves him off, "Hey you saved us, that's good enough for now, we can get them later."

Asahi shakes his head, looking regretful, "Actually it'll have to be just Hina, you're ordered back, and I was only released temporarily. I can only stay for a few hours then I have to head back as well."

Hina starts at that, "What? I'll be alone to deal with these guys?" He sounds slightly panicked, and Noya pats his shoulder comfortingly.

"C'mon now, they wouldn't really do that, right?" He looks at Asahi for confirmation, but doesn't get any. "Wait so you're saying...Hina will stay down here, with no backup to deal with the demons?"

Asahi just nods, and flinches back from Noya's outburst, "What the hell are they thinking! There are four demons in the area right now and even though there were three of us here we couldn't even take out one of them!"

"Noya hey it's alright!" Hina says in concern, "I'll be ok."

"Like hell! I won't go back and leave Hina here alone," Noya growls, crossing his arms resolutely over his chest, and paling as it disturbs the blade still lodged in his shoulder.

"You have to go back Noya, you were ordered. Besides, Shimizu will come down and get you if you don't go back on your own," Asahi says pleadingly, looking a little panicked with how adamantly Noya was protesting.

"I'm not moving." Noya answers, glaring at Asahi and Hina as they start to say something, "That's final."

Hina looks nervously between Asahi and Noya, not sure what he was supposed to do. The smaller angel looks steadfast in his decision, but his orders were to return, he didn't want Noya to get in trouble with the higher ups because of him.

"Noya I think you should go back," Hina flinches back from Noya's glare, "I-I mean they're orders and Tana had been sent back and all, you'll probably be able to head right back down once you check in."

The angel narrows his eyes, looking sharply over at Asahi who tries to hide from the look, "Do you know anything?"

"N-no, but only because I'm supposed to return for more orders after this, I assume that's what they're going to do for you," He answers hesitantly.

"Tch," Noya scowls, "Fine, but I'm coming back here one way or another."

Asahi holds up his hands in surrender, "I don't care, it's the higher ups that do." He watches as Noya stands, pulling the knife out of his shoulder with a small wince and wipes the blood off on his already bloody shirt, but holds onto the weapon.

"I will be back Hina," Noya promises, "They're idiots if they think you can deal with five high level demons." Noya pauses, eyebrows creasing, "Did I just say five?"

Hina tilts his head, "Yeah, why?"

Noya frowns, "There should only be four, right?" He looks over at Asahi for confirmation, who nods, "So why did I say five?"

"Slip of the tongue," Hina shrugs, "Don't worry about it, just go ahead and head out so you can hurry back." Noya still looks perplexed, but nods and takes off running, easily taking to the air and vanishing.

Hina looks over at Asahi, who's still staring at the spot that Noya had disappeared. He gains the Ace's attention by standing, walking over and retrieving his dagger before turning back to the other angel.

"Are you injured?" He asks, not seeing any visible wounds but that didn't mean anything.

Asahi shakes his head, "You guys wore them down enough they didn't get any significant hits on me, I should've been able to take them out but I didn't," Asahi sounds regretful, which makes Hina feel bad.

"Don't worry about it! They should at least be out of commission for a bit," Hina says brightly, "Is there any other reason that your here other than helping me?"

"Yeah, just have to deliver a quick message then I'll be on my way, I should actually go ahead and deliver it," He looks over Hina, noticing how much more injured he was, "Will you be ok getting back to where you're staying?"

Hina nods, "Of course! I left my bike on the road too, so I'll be able to get to my apartment quickly."

"Alright, I'll go ahead and be on my way, stay safe Hina," Asahi replies, smiling slightly before leaping into the air. Hina isn't able to follow his movements for more than a few seconds before he's out of sight. He sighs, rubbing at the blood on the side of his face before walking back to the road.


	8. Lord

* * *

 

Suga feels uneasy, but he's unsure why. He blames it on the storm at first, since it had already caused him to jump a few times, but as he thinks on it more, he knows that's not it.

"Hey Dai, do you know if anything's supposed to be happening tonight?" Suga asks as he peers up at the steadily darkening clouds, knowing that Dai would be able to hear him from the other room. The demon pokes his head in from the kitchen, since it was his turn for dinner.

"I haven't seen anything, but that doesn't mean much," He answers, "I only get understandable answers when I actively use the ability."

Suga makes a noise of acknowledgement and continues staring outside, watching the raindrops race each other across the pane. No one was out walking in the stormy weather along their street, but he felt as if someone would come in any second now.

As if answering his thoughts, the door is slammed open.

"Jeez it's really storming, this is ridiculous, I almost died flying," the intruder exclaims, shaking his arms and legs in an attempt to free himself from the droplets clinging to his skin. Suga stares at the guy with wide eyes, and glances over at Dai who'd appeared from the kitchen with one of the carving knives casually in hand. The demon relaxes slightly as he sees who it is, but creases his eyebrows in confusion.

"Kuroo?"

"The one and only," The demon says snarkily, bowing with great flourish as he gives up trying to get rid of the rain that'd soaked him.

"What are you doing here?" Daichi asks incredulously, still not letting his guard down. Even though he'd been close with Kuroo, ever since the incident with Suga five years ago Daichi had made sure to cut off all contact with any of his old comrades.

"A little birdie told me that you two would be found soon, I thought I'd just give you a heads up," Kuroo says lazily, languidly stretching his arms over his head with a satisfied grin. "Oikawa and Iwaizumi are on your trail right now actually, they came to me for info and I told them what they wanted."

Daichi pales, "You told them where we were?"

Kuroo huffs, "Not like they wouldn't have found you guys on their own, at least this way I could give you a heads up. The higher ups want you back for them or dead Dai," he looks over at Suga, licking his lips and smirking, "And a birdie would be extra points."

Daichi moves between Kuroo and Suga, they might've been friends but that doesn't mean he trusts him. Kuroo looks between Suga and Daichi and his smirk grows wider, "Don't worry, you have at least twenty minutes to get out." He turns to leave but Suga stops him.

"Kuroo wait, do you know what Oikawa's orders are specifically?" Suga ignores the warning look that Daichi was giving him and moves to standing beside him so that he could talk easier to Kuroo, who turns back to look at them.

"Kill any angel you come across, except for traitors who can be captured, bring Dai back alive, if he resists kill him." Kuroo recites blankly, taking the words from memory. He meets Suga's eyes once again, "There are only two angels in the area right now, and five demons, six if you include myself."

Suga pales even more if that was possible, "Only two angels? What happened to the others?"

Kuroo shrugs, "Two were called back, one arrived only recently. I can't tell you much more. Unfortunately there aren't many messengers I can intercept so I have to rely on my own informant, and he isn't exactly high up in the information chain."

Daichi bumps Suga's shoulder to gain his attention, "They're fine, don't worry," He says reassuringly. Suga bites his lip but nods, looking at Kuroo with a weak smile.

"Thank you Kuroo, for your information," He says graciously. The demon waves him off, smiling faintly himself.

"No problem, I'd get a move on if I were you, Oikawa will be here in fifteen minutes," With that Kuroo disappears out the door again, vanishing as quickly as he'd shown up.

Suga looks at Daichi with a nervous look, "We can trust his information, right?"

Daichi nods, walking over to the doorway and grabbing his coat, "Kuroo is the most well informed demon I've met, and he doesn't exactly stick to any one side." Suga follows Daichi's example and shrugs on a coat, flipping the hood up as he listens to the pounding rain.

"We might not be able to come back here anytime soon, depending on how long Oikawa and Iwaizumi are staying in town," Daichi muses as he flips off a few lights before exiting the apartment and locking it behind him.

Suga grumbles, "I hope it's not too long, I don't want to be stuck in a hotel or something until we find a new apartment." Daichi slings an arm around Suga's shoulders and pulls him in for a half hug as they walk out into the rain.

"They'll probably be called in for a new mission before that happens, don't worry about it," Daichi answers reassuringly, "Plus knowing Oikawa he'll get bored with having to tail us for so long and just give up."

"I hope so."

 

* * *

 

 

Oikawa perches on the windowsill, with Iwaizumi hovering in the air beside him since there was only enough room for one of them. Daichi had left the curtains open, unlucky for him, good for Oikawa. Or least it would be if he could see anyone in the apartment.

"Maybe they're not home," Iwaizumi says, already becoming bored with looking in an obviously empty room. Plus this game of cat and mouse had been going on for far too long.

"According to Kuroo they should be here, and by be here it means they should actually _be_ here," Oikawa answers, voice already containing that hint of annoyance. Iwaizumi mentally prepares himself from the tantrum that was sure to result soon enough.

"Kuroo may have the best intel around, but that doesn't mean he's right all the time. He's _obviously_ not right all the time," Iwaizumi says placatingly, hoping to appease the anger before it starts.

Oikawa's enraged expression fades back into a cool one, which only offers temporary relief to Iwaizumi before Oikawa steps off the ledge, only so that he could have enough room to break open the window. Iwaizumi raises his eyebrow, but follows Oikawa inside of the apartment without any protest.

Oikawa flicks on some lights, making some easy observations, "Two people are here, that means he does have a little birdie," His face lights up with excitement, although Iwaizumi knows that's just because he wants to turn in the angel. "And they left in a hurry.”

Iwaizumi wanders into the kitchen, seeing an obvious dinner in process, and reports his findings to Oikawa. The other demon had been wandering into the bedrooms and study rooms, growing more gleeful with each discovery.

"They share a bed too, they're nearly a married couple," Oikawa's wearing a dark grin, "I can't wait to find them."

Iwaizumi shoots him a warning glance, "Oikawa calm down, we need to be smart about this, they aren't going to just let us take them back." His words seem to have the effect he wanted. Oikawa quiets down and looks with a more critical eye around the apartment.

"They left no more than fifteen minutes ago," He eventually announces, "They took their coats and keys and that was it, they don't have anything else with them. Which also means they left knowing they had to take little with them, like they knew we'd be coming."

Oikawa's gaze sharpens as he realizes what he’s saying, "Kuroo wouldn't..." he hisses, "Of course he would! That traitor was close with Daichi, why wouldn't he warn him!"

"Hey!" Iwaizumi protests, keeping Oikawa from storming out the door, "Kuroo isn't affiliated with any one side so he can do whatever the hell he wants, don't go blaming him."

"Damnit Iwa I don't care! I just want this mission done!" Oikawa bursts out, ripping his arm out of Iwaizumi’s grip, but not making a move indicating that he’d try to storm out, "We're always on missions since we're the only ones who can do something fucking right but I'm tired of it! I want to finish this and not leave our realm for the next century!"

Iwaizumi listens to Oikawa's short rant with a calm face, but lashes out to slap him once it's done. The force of the blow sends Oikawa to the ground, but he's quick to leap up with a snarl, gripping the collar of Iwaizumi's shirt with a grip strong enough to begin to rip it. Iwaizumi doesn't show any other reaction other than slight annoyance.

"Focus on the damn mission," Is all Iwaizumi says to Oikawa's bared teeth at his neck, not backing down an inch.

Oikawa stays like that until he realizes that his threatening isn’t helping anything. He slowly releases Iwaizumi,"You're so mean Iwa," He whines with a pout."Can't we just hunt them down and kill them right now?"

"They're smarter than that," Iwaizumi replies easily, "We should just tail them until we find a good opening."

"How is that any different than hunting them down right now?" Oikawa asks heatedly, feeling annoyance chewing at his chest once again.

Iwaizumi re-adopts his glare, "Because we're going to be cautious about this. We can take out two birds with one stone if we play this smart."

"Fine," Oikawa huffs, "What do we do now?"

"See if we can follow their trail, if we find them good, if not then we'll get Kuroo to give us more information," Iwaizumi says, "Simple as that."

Oikawa grumbles under his breath about the plan but doesn't say anything else as he follows Iwaizumi out the window-not bothering with turning off the lights or anything- to land in the alleyway between buildings.

The rain has slowed to an almost undetectable mist, but it's not like it made a difference to the two completely soaked demons. Iwaizumi leads the way, which Oikawa allows only because he's too tired to sense energies. The two of them had just come from a mission when they were given the orders for this one, meaning they haven’t been able to rest at all between the two.

The wind picks up again, increasing the annoyance of the rain and making Oikawa scowl at the sky, "Wouldn't it just be faster finding them if we flew?"

"It'd be faster if we split up and flew around but because we're not splitting up what's the point in flying?" Iwaizumi replies simply, scanning the streets with an intense focus. As they arrive at an intersection, his eyebrows furrow and he looks off to the left.

"What is it?" Oikawa asks, knowing it wouldn't be the guys they were looking for or else he would've said something or gotten up into the air.

"Start complaining about the rain," Iwaizumi says quietly under his breath, adopting an annoyed expression as they begin walking down the road to the left.

"Iwa wasn't the rain supposed to stop already?" Oikawa whines, catching on to what Iwaizumi was doing, "Do you think it's going to clear up for the game tomorrow?"

"Don't ask me, it's not like I watch the news every day," Iwaizumi replies, continuing to keep an eye out. Just when he thinks he'd been wrong, he notices a teen walking down the road with his bike.

He feels Oikawa stiffen beside him as he also notices, but continues to keep up the act, "But you're supposed to _know_ things Iwa, why else do I continue to even talk to you?”

“Learn to do things on your own for a change,” Iwaizumi scoffs, looking sideways at the angel as they walk past. He’s trying to disguise the worst of the injuries, but he’s definitely not fatally injured. Beside him he can hear Oikawa growling low in his throat as they both realize that Kage had come no where near to actually hurting Hina. Iwaizumi wraps a warning arm around Oikawa’s shoulders, restraining him in a casual enough manner that the angel barely glances up at the two of them, too occupied with keeping his balance on the slick roads.

“You’re such an ass,” Oikawa sighs dramatically, but there’s an edge to his voice that Iwaizumi catches, which is how Oikawa ends up ‘slipping’ on the pavement until he’s laying on his back with a shocked expression.

“I”m going to maim you,” Oikawa hisses as he takes the offered hand, glaring at Iwaizumi’s poorly hidden smirk. They both glance back and see that Hina had turned the corner, already more than halfway down the next block.

“Kage has a hell of a lot of explaining to do,” Oikawa mutters under his breath, losing control over his guise as he notices the other demon’s presence approaching along with Tsu.

“Don’t kill him, he’s actually useful,” Is all Iwaizumi says as the other two demons land in front of them. He’s unable to reign back Oikawa’s attention, so he watches apprehensively as the undisguised demon immediately has Kage pinned to the ground with his clawed hand digging into his neck.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Hina just strolled past us with barely a scratch on him,” Oikawa snarls, voice low and scratchy with his demon form released. Kage manages to glare up at the demon even as he’s being suffocated by the pale hand.

“An Ace showed up.”

Oikawa slowly looks up at Tsu, who is completely unaffected by his anger, “And?”

“There were three angels there total, how the fuck do you think we could’ve gotten to any of them?” Kage manages to choke out, taking in a full breath as Oikawa finally draws back. He rubs at his throat, scowling as he brushes at the blood dripping from where Oikawa’s nails had dug in.

“Whatever, just head back,” Oikawa eventually says after thinking about what the best course of action would be.

“What are you saying?” Kage asks, miffed at how casually Oikawa was tossing them aside.

“Iwa and I can handle this on our own, you two head back,” Oikawa replies.

“Just go Kage, Tsu, it’s only a few angels, we’ll be fine,” Iwaizumi says when he sees that the two of them were about to protest further.

Kage growls but obeyingly backs off, glaring daggers at Oikawa when he sticks out his tongue before he turns around. Tsu doesn't say anything as he goes off in the opposite direction from where Kage had gone, and within moments Oikawa could feel them return to their realm. He looks up to the sky in relief, why couldn't those guys just follow simple orders to retreat? It was giving them a break after all.

Iwaizumi looks over sideways at Oikawa as the other demon reigns in his anger, "You should really control your temper."

Oikawa tenses, turning to Iwaizumi with darkened eyes and bared teeth, "It's not my fault they annoy the hell out of me."

"Kind of is," Iwaizumi deadpans. Oikawa forces himself not to snap back a response that would make him lose what little cool he has left.

"Whatever, anyway I should-" He trails of and creases his eyebrows as he listens to a message only he can hear. The longer he concentrates the more he grits his teeth in an attempt to not protest.

"What's going on?" Iwaizumi asks as Oikawa finally looks over at him, signalling that the message was over.

"I've been summoned back, apparently to issue a new change of orders. You're to stay here and keep an eye on things," Oikawa says tensely, not liking how this was sounding.

Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow but shrugs, "I'll be waiting."

Oikawa nods and turns away, leaping into the air and returning back to their realm as quickly as his wings would carry him.

 

* * *

 

 

Oikawa doesn't waste any time once he passes through their door into the demon realm. He searches out the palace, finding that this time it was on the edge of a very well maintained garden. Although the garden wasn't exactly there just for looks, making his way through the slightly daunting forest was a task all on its own.

"Where's Ushijima?" He barks at the gatekeeper, who flinches back before glaring.

"Where he always is, he's waiting rather impatiently for you," The gatekeeper replies, miffed about Oikawa's rude tone. He dutifully opens the iron gates, locking them back behind him once he grants Oikawa entry. The demon doesn't thank him as he storms through the inner door. He can't believe how pompous the damn rulers of the land are. Yes he may be one of those rulers, but dealing with others is a far more annoying task, especially when the one he has to take orders from is the supposed 'lord' of the demon realm.

He storms into the 'throne room', noticing immediately how Ushijima gives him an annoyed look and folds up a map he'd been looking over.

"You wanted to see me?" Oikawa says, not bothering to bow like most would as Ushijima methodically begins to gather together all the materials that had been splayed over the table while he'd been marking the map.

"Your orders have changed. Instead of killing the angels we will instead have to capture them," Ushijima says bluntly, not looking up at Oikawa the entire time he gathers everything together.

"Can I ask why?" Oikawa asks, trying hard to bite his tongue but it was very hard to do.

"No."

"So you're fine with me drawing my own conclusions then?" Oikawa asks haughtily, not letting that stop him.

Ushijima finally looks up at him, starting to grow irritated, "I will need the angels within that town, that is all I'm telling you."

Oikawa narrows his eyes, “What, do you have some sort of plan involving the town? You know the angels value it as well right?"

Ushijima raises an eyebrow, “And why would you care about something like that and why should you question me? You’re only here to follow my orders.”

“Of course,” Oikawa replies tensely, “I just don’t enjoy being a part of something I don’t even know about.”

“Just give out the new orders, don’t waste any more of my time,” Ushijima says with a wave of dismissal. Oikawa makes an angry noise under his breath but obeyingly leaves the chamber. He quickly makes a plan, because he really needs to figure out what the hell their crazy leader was planning because knowing him it wouldn’t be anything good.

The castle is mostly deserted, a fact that Oikawa notes as an oddity, because since when did Ushijima not have scores of demons running around to do his every bidding. Deciding that exploring the castle for information was an easy way to get himself killed, he instead goes to the one person he knows won’t give him away. He manages to find him rather easily, lounging in a tree in the gardens just outside the castle walls.

“Kuroo, I need your help,” Oikawa says, raising his eyebrow when he sees Kuroo take a stem from his mouth as he turns around to look at him. He twirls the plucked rose around his fingers, managing to avoid all the thorns as he looks down at Oikawa.

“Again? Man I’m sure popular these days,” Kuroo says, smiling when Oikawa rolls his eyes. He jumps down from the branch and absently begins pulling off the blood red petals and lets them float to the ground. “What do you need?”

“Ushijima is planning something and I need to know what,” Oikawa replies, ignoring the way that Kuroo snorts at his order.

“Anything else princess?” Kuroo says sarcastically, “You realize how long it’ll take me to find out everything right?”

“I only need a hint, I don’t want you to go figure out everything for me,” Oikawa says in frustration, “I just can’t stand it when he doesn’t tell the people doing the dirty work what’s going on.”

“I get it, believe me,” Kuroo holds his hands up in surrender, “Give me a day, I’ll get you enough to go off of.”

“That’s all I’ll need,” Oikawa replies firmly, “I’ll find you tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

Oikawa creeps back into the gardens, footsteps silent as he searches through the branches among the trees until he spots Kuroo, the demon’s tail absently swishing through the air as he stares up at the sky.

“Kuroo,” He hisses, catching his attention and gesturing for him to join him on the ground.

“What’re you being so sneaky for?” Kuroo asks curiously as he joins Oikawa in the shadows of the oak like tree he had been lying in.

“Iwaizumi didn’t want me to come meet you alone after I told him what went on yesterday, but I don’t want him to get involved in this, especially if it’s as bad as I think it is,” Oikawa answers, taking one last glance over his shoulder.

“Well I think it’s going to be pretty bad,” Kuroo admits, “I heard about that town, and something along the lines of ingredients for a ritual.” He notices Oikawa’s expression and laughs, “I guess that’s what you found out too.”

“Kuroo we can’t let him do this, it’s seriously bad news, the ritual itself is horrid” Oikawa says, grabbing Kuroo’s arms in insistence.

Kuroo shrugs him off, looking annoyed, “I know that, I did some research of my own so I found out what exactly he was planning to do. He’s a pretty brutal monster, even for a demon.”

“Which is why we can’t let him do it,” Oikawa reiterates, “I could only find a few things on it, but I’m assuming you found more right?”

“Unfortunately,” Kuroo sighs, “And from what I’m betting, you and I are two of the five needed.”

“That bastard,” Oikawa snarls, “Using us just like replaceable pawns.”

“Well I don’t know about you but I’m not just going to go along with this, I’m going to try some ways to stop it. In the meantime, you should probably pretend to go along with everything, he doesn’t care about me since I’m just the average informant,” Kuroo says.

“I wish we weren’t right,” Oikawa mutters, the shakes his head, “I have to join Iwa in the town anyway, to give out the new set of orders.”

“Like I said, I’ll find out what else I can and report it back to you, but I'll only stay long enough to tell you what's going on. Staying in that town would be suicide.”

"Fine by me," Oikawa replies, "We just need to know how to stop this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret not updating this story sooner, especially since I'm getting closer to the end of it.
> 
> I took off the pairings because the only ones that would be really touched on would be Daisuga and maybe Kuroken. I'll probably end up changing the summary soon enough as well. 
> 
> As usual I edited the best I could but I probably missed a few things, if it's something major please tell me. I'll hopefully be able to update more often now.


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